Memory project yields selfless portraits

A kid in Haiti receives a Memory Project portrait created by a student artist from Calvery Chapel High School. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MEMORY PRO

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Ryan Romero of Laguna Hills High School participated in The Memory Project, a program in which art students create portraits of children around the world who are neglected, orphaned or disadvantaged. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A child in Haiti receives a Memory Project portrait created by a student artist from Calvery Chapel High School. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MEMORY PRO

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A child in Haiti receives a Memory Project portrait created by a student artist from Calvery Chapel High School. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MEMORY PRO

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A child in Haiti receives a Memory Project portrait created by a student artist from Calvery Chapel High School. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MEMORY PRO

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A boy in Guyana receives a Memory Project portrait created by a student artist from Laguna Hills High School. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MEMORY PRO

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A child in Guyana receives a Memory Project portrait created by a student artist from Laguna Hills High School. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MEMORY PRO

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Ryan Romero of Laguna Hills High School, who participated in the Memory Project last year, says he wants to take part in the program again. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A girl in Guyana receives a Memory Project portrait created by a student artist from Laguna Hills High School. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MEMORY PRO

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A child in Guyana receives a Memory Project portrait created by a student artist from Laguna Hills High School. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MEMORY PRO

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A child in Ghana receives a Memory Project portrait created by a student artist from Santa Ana High School. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MEMORY PRO

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A boy in Ghana receives a Memory Project portrait created by a student artist from Santa Ana High School. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MEMORY PRO

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A boy in Ghana receives a Memory Project portrait created by a student artist from Santa Ana High School. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MEMORY PRO

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Ryan Romero from Laguna Hills High School participated in ""The Memory Project," a unique initiative in which art students create portraits for children and teens around the world who have been neglected, orphaned, or disadvantaged. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

While volunteering at an orphanage in Guatemala, Wisconsin resident Ben Schumaker learned that the kids had few, if any, personal keepsakes. Things like photos, pictures or toys to help give them a sense of identity and remember their childhood. So, in 2004, he started the Memory Project.

The Memory Project recruits artists, mostly high school art students, nationwide to create portraits of orphaned, neglected and disadvantaged children from photographs provided by the organization. The portraits are then given to the children. To date, the group has delivered more than 50,000 portraits to children in 34 different countries.

Since the program began, Orange County students have created several hundred portraits for children in places like South East Asia, Africa and South America. Schumaker says the goal is to give these children hope and encourage them to see themselves as pieces of art.

“Many of the kids who receive our portraits think that portraits are typically created only for kings, presidents and other VIPs,” Schumaker said. “So to know that these portraits have been created especially for them can make them feel like VIPs too.”

Laurel Dahlen, Calvary Chapel High School’s art teacher, said her students have participated in the Memory Project for the past four years. Dahlen says art has a way of touching its recipient’s heart while simultaneously sharing the heart of the artist.

“When kids leave the orphanage, they often have nothing they can take besides their clothes,” Dahlen said. “But (the Memory Project) gives them something of value they can take when they leave.”

The art students know they can’t keep their finished work, Dahlen says, but that doesn’t stop them from striving for perfection.

Andre Orate, a senior at Servite High School, said that because he knew his portrait would be a gift, he wanted to do his best, to give his orphan hope.

“When I was involved last year, the most rewarding part was knowing this painting could give her a sense of security,” Orate recalled. “I wanted her to know someone else is thinking about her.”

Deborah Mount, Rialto High School’s art teacher, said the art project has helped nurture her students’ compassion for others.

“At first the students weren’t sure about (the Memory Project), but the longer they worked on their orphan, the more they got attached,” she said.

Many of the orphans are the same age as the art students or younger, Servite High School art teacher Karen Van Metre said, which helped them identify with their subjects.

“This (project) really hit home,” she said. “A lot of the kids at school have lost a parent and know at least partially what these (orphans) are going through.”

Once students finish their portraits, the Memory Project delivers the keepsakes to their new owners, and a photograph is taken of the portrait and the orphan.

Ryan Romero, a senior at Laguna Hills High School, said that the most rewarding part was seeing the final product in his orphan’s hand.

“After I finished, I sent the portrait to him with a picture of myself and my name,” he said. “The coolest part is knowing that I made his day, and that I made him a lot happier.”

Heather Chatline, a senior at Calvary Chapel High School, said the Memory Project allows students to make connections across the globe, which she believes teens are currently lacking.

“We have Facebook, but high school students don’t connect with people on a broader scale,” Chatline said. “This organization encourages people to connect.”

Romero, who participated last year, said he has already asked Schumaker about taking part again this year.

The Laguna Hills High School art teacher who signed up her classes for the Memory Project retired at the end of last year, and Schumaker has not heard if the school will participate again. Romero says he wants to pursue the project on his own either way.

“I hope art students will realize art isn’t necessarily just for the classroom,” Romero said. “It can be used beyond to help other people and serve the community.”

To learn more about the Memory Project or to sign up your school up for the program, go to memoryproject.org.

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